


House of Cards

by xxx_mlggamer_xxx



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Minor character death (OC), Team as Family, The Horsemen had Hard-Knock Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-23 00:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7460106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxx_mlggamer_xxx/pseuds/xxx_mlggamer_xxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Biggest Understatements of the Year:<br/>Lula's Mom and Dad didn't really get along.<br/>Jack had it rough growing up.<br/>Merritt's brother is a nasty S.O.B.<br/>Atlas never had any control. </p><p>But hey - at least they've got each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	House of Cards

**Lula**

            Somewhere, deep in her subconscious, Lula remembers a better time. A time when she would swing between her parents as they all held hands, as if they really loved one another. She remembers seeing her artwork on the fridge. She remembers birthdays and Christmases when her parents would smile at one another, sharing a kiss while she squealed over her present (a magic kit for beginners).

            She doesn’t remember the slow descent into madness. She doesn’t remember the glares, the silent arguments that her parents would have over her head. She doesn’t remember the weeks of silent treatment between the two.

            She _does_ remember, in the fifth grade, when her mom cracked and took a knife to her dad’s throat. She remembers how everything changed.

            Without her even comprehending what had happened, she was whisked away by Child Protective Services, and she found herself in a girls’ home.

            The other girls were nice... for the most part. She met an amazing girl named Jess who took her under her wing, who taught her all the tips and tricks to being an orphan (even when Lula would correct her with the fact that her parents were both very much alive). Jess was the one that sat with her when she cried and stayed strong through everything.

            But she was taken away from Jess, too, as her father proved that he was ‘responsible’ enough to care for her.

            That was a total lie.

            From then on, Lula was living with her depressed dad, microwaving TV dinners for the two of them, walking the ten miles it took to get to school, and taking care of everything. It was dark days for her, sometimes literally when her dad fell behind on bills.

            And one day, when she finally made it home, she found herself greeted with police cars and ambulances, and there was a policeman holding her shoulders and telling her words that she didn’t want to understand but essentially boiled down to the fact that _her dad was a selfish a-hole_ and _he was dead._

Back in a girl's’ home, and with Jess long gone, Lula started magic. She would put on little shows for the younger girls, who always seemed to be impressed with everything.

Her performances got bigger, and her audience did, too, and Lula finally felt like she was _loved_.

And then she pulled the hat out of the rabbit, instead of the other way around, and she never looked back.

 

**Jack**

            Jack had the best family on the planet.

            Okay, so maybe his mom and dad were both crackheads who overdosed and left him on his own, running through alleys and starving to death, but he never thought of them as his family. Rather, he had Tracey, and Caroline, and Tim.

            Tracey liked to pick up strays - quite literally, in his case. She was about 20, and she had a less-than-stable job as a waitress, a tiny, dingy apartment (which was meant to house about a half a person and certainly not four), tired eyes, and a huge heart.

            She was always there for all the kids - Jack was the second youngest in the pack at 8, while Caroline was 16 and Tim was just a baby (which complicated things)- and they were always there for her.

            Jack recalls nights when Tracey would come home drunk and she’d apologize because _she had to look after the kids and she couldn’t do that under the influence_ , and _what kind of role model was she?,_ and Jack would hold her hair back for her as she cried into the toilet bowl about how she just _wanted a better life for you kids._

            One day, while Jack was waiting for Tracey to get off of work, holding Tim gently and trying to remember some lullabies before realizing his parents never sang him any, he heard a commotion coming from the opposite side of the street.

            “Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am Daniel Atlas - who of you wants to see some magic today?”

            The guy was weird, with curly hair, a hunched back, and a nervous smile, but he gained more confidence as more people gathered around in wonder. He was older than Jack, but he was still younger than Tracey.  He was good.

            _Magic_ , Jack thought, mesmerized. Jack watched as the performer pulled a rabbit out of his hat before passing it around for people to toss their change into. _I could get into that._

For his birthday, Jack asked for a magic set and tried to ignore the pained look in Tracey’s eyes. He got a deck of cards, instead.

            When he looked up at her with big, wet eyes, saying he’ll never learn magic with so little, she took his hand gently, saying “If you’re as good as I know you can be, a deck of cards is all you’ll ever need.”

            By the time Jack was 15 he was working two-part time jobs, and Tracey was diagnosed with cancer. Caroline had gone to college, and had a real job, and took Tim with her. When he was asked to come, too, Jack declined to stay with Tracey.

            By the time he was 16, Jack was out of school, and on the streets.

            He started doing some street magic, but he quickly learned that pickpocketing was more rewarding. After all, it was still misdirection. It was still sleight of hand. He might as well consider a career change.

 

**Merritt**

            People always said that twins tend to have a telepathic bond, and the McKinney Twins were no exception. But the thing about these brothers is that they seemed to share that telepathic bond with _everyone else_.

            The truth is that mentalism is nothing more than careful observation of the facial and body language of your target. And the McKinney twins, having had years to practice with each other, had mastered it.

            Their first “shows” were for their parents and close relatives, always ending with “oohs”, and “aahs”, amazed looks, and a set of very proud parents.

            They were the dynamic duo; it was the two of them against the world. Especially as they entered high school.

            First, there was the issue of friends. Believe it or not, magic isn’t the coolest thing to a bunch of teenagers, especially when that magic consists of revealing people’s secrets in a less than polite way.

            Second, there was the divorce, for which Merritt and Chase really only had themselves to blame. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that both their father and their mother didn’t really believe in monogamy. All it took was a quick glance at the tennis instructor and a couple of well-placed guesses, and suddenly Mr. and Mrs. McKinney were much less supportive of their sons’ little ‘hobby’.

            Everything seemed to change when Chase caught a stomach bug on the night of a huge party. Merritt went on his own, wishing the best of luck to his downed twin, and obviously nervous about what he was going to do, by himself for possibly the first time.

            However, much to his surprise, people seemed to flock to him. Without his awkward (bordering on creepy) brother around to bring the mood down, the mentalism was much more endearing. Sexy, even, and Merritt found himself, for the first time, landing a hot chick for the night (and no, he didn’t hypnotize her, Merritt was a _gentleman_ ).

            Despite the fact that this sudden popularity wasn’t something Merritt ever wanted to let go of, he was loyal, and returned to his brother to dwell in the underbelly of high school once again.

            Once they graduated, Merritt was approached by a local news show that offered them a chance to do some tricks on air (it was a slow day, apparently).

            The Mystical McKinney’s were born.

            It wasn’t too long until they were approached again, their agent saying that Merritt made people comfortable, and Chase... not so much. Merritt protested, saying that no, this was his brother, and they performed together or not al all. But Chase had waved it off, and soon it was just Merritt on stage.

            Ratings went way up, Merritt was booked with stage shows, and he had fans, and it was overwhelming, and it was amazing, and they were rich.

            And suddenly, Chase was gone - ran off with the money, and Merritt was left a broke, washed up magician who knew he couldn’t trust anyone again.

 

**Daniel**

            J. Daniel Atlas. A household name (or so he chose to believe), with a massive following (considering he was a magician), and a trail of heartbroken girls pining after him (again, or so he liked to think).

            But his first fan was his grandmother.

            Atlas’s father was in prison, and had been for as long as the kid could remember. Atlas had faint memories of his mother - her hair color, the tone of her voice - but they were too little for him to devote much energy to caring about.

Although Altas’s father was a criminal (like father, like son, I guess), his grandmother was a sweet woman who lived in a quaint little house that smelling like homemade bread, had cats, and called him “James” in a gentle voice.

It was Atlas’s grandmother who would play reruns of Lionel Shrike, reminiscing about how she loved to watch him, and what a shame it was that he passed so young.

So Atlas picked up some cards that his grandmother used for Bridge, and a couple books from the library, and started magic.  

            Atlas was a bit of a shut-in, but he had one good friend - a kid named Peter who had a loud laugh, and called him “Jamie”, and came over for cookies and tea, and would knock on their door in the middle of the night with big dark bruises and tears in his eyes. Atlas did all he could to help - he shared his bed, he showed Peter his magic tricks to try to distract him from his father, and would walk with him in the halls at school.

            One day, when Atlas was 13, Peter didn’t come to school and he tried not to think about it too hard, until he got home to his grandmother in tears, smothering him in a hug and telling him that everything would be okay, eventually, and it wasn’t his fault and there was nothing he could do.

            _There was nothing he could do_.

            Atlas threw himself almost obsessively into his magic, and his therapist spent many a night explaining to his grandmother that while she was glad that he was focusing on something productive, she was worried about him - that _this wasn’t healthy_.

            Atlas stopped going by James at school and started going by Daniel, and his panic attacks started to get a little better and then... his grandmother got worse.

            And Atlas found himself at her bedside, showing her his  magic and trying not to panic. He would perform for the other patients and he would perform for on the street in front of the hospital.

He needed to distract himself.

This made him happy.

Yes. He was happy.

            Well, he was in control, and that was as close to happiness as he was ever going to get.

            A few months later, he was at the hospital with his grandmother as she died. And a part of him seemed to die with her. He panicked. He couldn’t perform for a straight month. His assistant left. Everything was going wrong.

            And then Henley Reeves walked into his life and he was able to put on the mask again.

 

**DYLAN**

            Jack settles himself down on the couch, spilling quite a bit of the popcorn out of that ungodly huge bowl in his lap, and wraps his arms around Lula’s shoulder, who takes the opportunity to lean her head on his shoulders and stuff her face.

            Atlas fails to hide his disgust (But was he really trying to in the first place?) and flicks away the popcorn that landed on his lap before wiping his hands down his pants erratically. He tried to scooch away from the couple, only to find himself wedged in between Jack and Merritt.

            “Why would you even sit down here, you _know_ the couch isn’t that big.” but he’s not actually mad. (Okay, maybe he’s a little annoyed).

Merritt laughs into his beer. “Well, aren’t we just one big happy family?” He claps Atlas’s shoulder and the younger man flinches away with a glare. As a form of apology, Merritt grabs the deck of cards off the coffee table and hands them to Atlas so he has something to do with his hands as the movie starts (and he doesn’t even start teasing when Atlas mumbles a thank you before shuffling the cards).

“Oh, get a room, you two.” Lula mocks around a mouthful of popcorn.

“You’re one to talk.” Is Atlas’s immediate response.

“Hey, I own it.” She swallows what she’s eating to plant a kiss on Jack’s cheek.

            Dylan comes in with his own drink in hand to sit on the recliner (thank all that is holy he didn’t try to squeeze onto the couch). “What are we watching tonight?”

            “ _Ocean’s Eleven_.”

            “Try to take notes.” Atlas mutters the same moment McKinney scoffs : "Pfft. Amateurs."

             "But hell if Brad Pitt isn't sexy in this movie." 

             Jack looks offended down at Lula. "Are you kidding me?? Clooney, all the way, man."

             Merritt and Atlas share a bewildered look as if to say ' _did these kids completely forget that Julia Roberts is in this movie??'_

            Dylan watches the horsemen ( _his_ horsemen) as they bicker, Lula and Jack throwing some popcorn and Atlas desperately trying to act like he’s above it all, but getting no support from Merritt, who is more than willing to participate in the madness.

            Dylan Rhodes - or rather, Dylan Shrike - lost his family when he was ten to a warped safe, and since then he had always felt kind of, well, empty. But now, after all they’ve been through, he looks at this little rag-tag group and he realizes that was Merritt said on that plane was completely accurate.

            _I may have been born into the wrong family but I’m dying with the right one._

            And, although none of them say anything, all the four of the horsemen agree.

 


End file.
